Small talk at 125th and Lenox

Scope this rad optical illusion, it’s called “Mr. Calm and Ms. Angry” or something like that. From close up, Mr. Angry is on the left and Ms. Calm is on the right. However, take a few steps back from your monitor (squinting your eyes works too) and they swap places.

It takes advantage of the brain’s ability to distinguish between images of high spatial frequency and those of low spatial frequency and was created by two visual cognition scientists, Aude Oliva (MIT) and Philippe Schyns (University of Glasgow). There is a good layman’s explanation of how it works here. Other similarly stimulating illusions can be had on this page.

Tom Green is a comic genius and he has a new website, some new projects and a frequently updated blog with videos. I highly recommend it.

Must have book: The new Taschen edition of The Curse of Lono by Hunter S. Thompson with illustrations by Ralph Steadman (originally published by Bantam in 1983). The large format (15.0 x 11.0 inches) of this book full of Thompson and Steadman’s coverage of the Honolulu Marathon allows for Steadman’s wonderful illustrations to really stand out.

Must have book for yuppie HST fans: The $970, even larger (21.5 x 14.5 inches), 1000 copy limited edition signed by both HST and Steadman (The price has more than tripled since Thompson’s death).